Clutch



F. E. MUNSCHAUER CLUTCH v Filed March 20,- 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR 0414 a mgg v BY "9 CWTI'GSRNEYSW F.- E. MUNSCHAUER CLUTCH Filed March 20, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MG ATTORNEYS W Patented Oct. "20, 1936 PATENT OFFICE CLUTCH Frederick E. Munschauer, Buffalo, N. Y.,' assignor.

to Niagara Machine & Tool Works, Buflalo, N. Y., a corporation of New York I Application March 20, 1936, Serial No. 69,795

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a clutch and more particularly to clutches of the general type,

shown in my prior Patent No. 2,011,822, dated August 20, 1935 and in Patent No. 2,011,629, dated August 20, 1935 to Paul R. Hahnemann and myself, these clutches being particularly designed for use in connection. with punch presses or the like for permitting the operator to couple the machine with a rotating power source at will 10 on operating on the articles which the machine is designed to produce.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide simple and easily'accessible means for adjusting the clutch so that the slide and eecentric of the press can be brought to rest at any point desired.

With clutches for punch presses the clutch throwout is generally designed so that when the clutch is opened the slide is elevated and, if the press is upright, the eccentric is substantially on dead center. vSuch clutches are further provided with positive stop means and if the eccentric travels beyond dead center in coming to rest the weight of the slide, eccentric and connecting rod, caused by the unbalanced condition, will merely be supported by the positive stop means in the clutch without particularly undesirable results. However, if the eccentric fails toreach dead center the weight of the slide and the con- 3 necting rod and the eccentric, occasioned by this unbalanced condition, will tend to move the main shaft backwards and cause partial engagement of the clutch jaws with a resultant clicking noise and wear. It is also possible, of course, that the clutch jaws may be caused to reengage and since presses of this type are generally provided with brakes it will be seen that such re-engagernen't would cause severe stresses and wear on the machine besides the possibility of a serious accident.

4 It will. be seen that as the speed of a punch press is changed or as the throw of the eccentric is altered (by changing eccentric shafts) the factors entering into the point at which the eccentric, slide and connecting rod come to rest are also altered so that it is highly desirable to readjust the clutch. Also with an inclinable punch press, i. e. a punch press in which the entire frame is tilted backwardlyior convenience in working and also to cause a gravity discharge of the work from the press, the factors determining the point at which the eccentric comes to rest are also altered. Thus. when the press is in- Y clined the connecting rod and eccentric are thrown off-balance and consequently when these two are on dead center the weight of the connecting rod and eccentric tends to move the drive shaft rearwardly and cause clicking of the clutch jaws, as previously set forth. Therefore, when an inclinable press is moved from an upright to an inclined position it is highly desirable to be 5 .able to adjust the clutch so that the eccentric, connecting rod and slide will be brought to rest substantially at a point of balance or repose in the elevated position of these parts.

In the accompanying drawings: -10

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of an inclinable punch press equipped with a clutch embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section, taken on line 1-2, Fig. 1. 15

Fig. 3 is a. vertical fragmentary section, taken on line 33, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the clutch sleeve. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the position at which the eccentric, connecting rod and 20 slide of the press come to rest on dead center when the press frame is upright.

Fig. 6 shows these parts in the same position but with the press inclined rearwardly and showing the manner in which the weight of the con-.- 25 necting rod and the eccentric tend to move the eccentric shaft rearwardly and cause objectionable clicking-of the clutch jaws;

Fig. '7 is a similar view showing the point at which the eccentric, connecting rod and slide 30 come to rest when the clutch is properly read justed in accordance with my invention to avoid such clicking.

In its general organization this invention comprises a sleeve clutch including a sleeve slidably 35 mounted on. the main shaft of a punch press by means of a series of equal sized and equally spaced teeth or splines and having jaws which are engageable with face jaws on a fly wheel loosely mounted on the same shaft. Means are 49 also provided for withdrawing, axially, and thereafter positively stopping the rotation of the clutch sleeve. In order to adjust the position at which the eccentric, connecting rod and slide come to rest, it is merely necessary to remove the sleeve 4;; and turn it so as to set it ahead or behind the necessary number of teeth to obtain the desired result. So setting the clutch sleeve ahead orv behind alters the relation between thethrcwout means of the clutch and the clutch sleeve'and since the throwout means are held in a fixed position it will be seen that the position at whichthe operating parts of the punch press come to rest is altered.

While my clutch may be employed in connecr shown) of the punch press.

in fragmentary form,

tion with any type of punch press or the like it is illustrated in the drawings as being usedin connection with an inclinable punch press, the construction of which is set forth'in detail in the copending application for patent of Frederic Drton, Ser. No. 50,308, filed Nov. 18, 1935.- 'The form of the press itself forms no part of the present invention and consequently is illustrated only the press including an inclining frame 20 which is suitably mounted on a base (not shown) so as to be inclinable from the upright, full line position shown in Fig. 1 to the dotted line position shown in the same figure, so that the work will be discharged from the press by gravity. The numeral 2| represents an inclining device for adjusting the frame 20 to any desired inclination, this inclining device forming the subject of the said Orton patent application. v

The frame 20 is formed to provide a pair of bearings, one of which is shown at 22 in which the .main or eccentric shaft 23 of the punch press is -journalled. Between the bearings 22 the main or eccentric shaft 23 is formed to provide an eccentric 24, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in the diagrammatic views, Figs. 5'7 this eccentric being connected by a connecting rod with a slide 26. The slide is slidably mounted, in the usual manner, in the frame 20 and carries the usual dies (not shown) which are designed to cooperate with a counter-part die on the bed (not When the eccentric shaft 23 is rotated one complete revolution the slide 26 is reciprocated so as to form the metal between the dies. After the metal is so formed the eccentric 24 elevates the slide 26 for the insertion of another metal blank between the dies.-

Power for operating the punch press is derived from a main pulley30 which is loosely. mounted on the reduced projecting end ,3|'of the eccentric shaft 23 and is continuously rotated by means of a belt (not shown).. The bearing for this pulley can be of any suitable form but preferably consists of an inner ball bearing 32, an outer ball bearing 33 and a spacing sleeve 34 between these ball bearings 32 and 33. The outer ball bearing 33 and the hub of the pulley 30 is retained on the reduced end 3| of the eccentric shaft by means of a nut 35 and the lubricant for the bearings is preferably sealed by means of a disk 36'which is retained in place by means of a split ring. It will be seen that with the'bearing shown the flywheel 30 can be easily removed from the projecting end 3| of the eccentric shaft by removing the sealing disk 36; removing the nut 35 and sliding the hub of the pulley 30 together with the bearings 32 and 33 011 of thereduced end of the eccentric shaft.

This removability of the pulley 30 is a feature of the present invention inasmuch as the adjustment of the clutch requires removal of the pulley.

The clutch includes'a face plate 31 which is bolted to the inner face of the hub of the pulley 30 by means of a pluralityof bolts 38. These bolts and the face plate 31 are preferably made in accordance with the Munschauer Patent No.

2,004,794, dated June 11, 1935. This face plate 31 is formed to pro de a large number of face laws 39. which are p eferably formed in accordance with the Hahnemann and Munschauer Patent No. 2,011,629, dated August 20, 1985 and cooperate with similar face jaws 40 provided at the end of aplutch sleeve 4|. This clutch sleeve is mounted on the eccentric shaft 23 and is compelled toturn 'with the eccentric shaft'by the provision of a large number of evenly spaced and which is journalled by means of antifriction bearequal sized straight longitudinal teeth 42 provided in the bore of the sleeve 4| and engaging similar equally spaced and uniformly shaped teeth provided on the eccentric shaft 23. It will be seen that by this connection between the clutch sleeve 4| and the drive shaft 23 the sleeve and eccentric shaft are compelled to turn together but the sleeve is free to slide lengthwise on the eccentricshaft. At the same time it will be seen that the sleeve 4| canbe fitted to the eecentric shaft in a large number of positions and that the relation between the shaft and sleeve can be changed by removing the pulley 30 and then removing the sleeve 4 setting it forward or backward one or more teeth and then replacing the parts. i

A simple helical compression spring 44 is preferably employed to normally cause the jaws 39 and 40 of the pulley 30 and the clutch sleeve 4| to engage. The clutch is disengaged and the rotation of the eccentric shaft positively stopped by means which are preferably constructed as follows: 7 I

Adjacent the clutch sleeve 4| a casing 45 is bolted to the clutch frame 20 by means of bolts In this casing is arranged a rotatable pin 41 ings 48 and 49 in a, slidable tubular housing 50. This slidable tubular housing 50 is suitably guided at one end in a guideway 5| formed-in the bracket or casing 45 and at its other end is guided in a bushing 52 which is secure'd to the casing 45 by means of bolts 53 or in any other suitable manner. The slidable tubular housing 50 is yieldingly held in its extreme projected position-bymeans of a helical compression spring 54 which bears at one end against a stop shoulder 55 provided onthe slidable tubular housing 50 and at its other end against the inner end of the bushing. In the projected positions of the tubular slidable housing 50 and the rolling pin. carried thereby the end of the pin 41 is moved into the path of a cam -56. This cam lug is best illustrated in Fig. 4 and it will be seen that when the eccentric shaft 23 and sleeve 4| are rotated the projection of the rolling pin '41 into the .path of the cam 56 necessarily draws the clutch sleeve 4| axially away from the hub of the pulley 3|Iand consequently effects a disengagement of the jaws 39 and 40 and an opening of the clutch. After the rolling pin 41 engages the cam by the relative position between the stop lug 60" and the eccentric. The slidable tubular'housing 5|] and its contained rolling pin 41 is withdrawn from engagement with the stop lug 60 of the clutch sleeve 4| by means of a link 6| connecting with a bell crank lever 62, this bell crank lever being depressed by means of a shipper rod 63 which is actuated by the usual treadle (not shown). It will be understood that suitable means are provided for holding the treadle in'an elevated, position and that any suitable form of non-repeat mechanism, such as is illustrated at 64, are provided as well as a lock illustrated generally at 65 for preventing the 'sleeve 4| from being moved into engagement with the jaws 39 of the pulley, these features forming no part of the present invention and consequently not being described in detail.

The present invention relates primarily to the means for adjusting the relation between the eccentric 24 and the stop lug 50, this means comprising the large number of equally spaced, equal sized teeth provided in the I bore of the clutch sleeve 4| and engaging similar teeth provided on the eccentric shaft 23.

Referring now to the diagrammatic views of Figs. 5-7, Fig. 5 shows the press in an upright position and shows the position of the eccentric 24 at 'mined by the relative positions of the eccentric and the stop lug 60,- inasmuch as the location of the rotatable throwout pin 41 is fixed.

It now the press frame is inclined rearwardly to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 it will be seen, as shown in Fig. 6, that the parts are in an unbalanced condition. As shown in Fig. 6 the weight of the eccentric as well as the weight of the connecting rod 25 tends to rotate the eccentric shaft inthe opposite direction from its normal drive, as shown by the dotted arrow. Such movement of the eccentric shaft'rotates the sleeve 4| reversely until the rotating pin 41 rides off of the land 59 and onto the cam 56. This permits the spring 44 behind the clutch sleeve 4| to move the clutch sleeve outwardly until its jaws 40 engage with the jaws 39 on-the pulley. This causes-an undesirable clicking noise and wear on the jaws.

Moreover, since the pin 4'! is mounted in antifriction bearings the spring 44 may cause a partial engagement of the teeth and as punch presses of this type are generally provided with brakes severe stresses are set up when this occurs in addition to the danger or a serious accident. Accordingly, itis desirable, when thepress is inclined, to cause the eccentric 24 to come to rest in a position in which the weight of the eccentric and the connecting rod do not tend to move the eccentric shaft in either direction, or in any event in a reverse direction. This position is shown in Fig. 7 in which the salient portion of the eccentric is brought to rest slightly short of an upright position.

The eccentric is brought to rest slightly short of an upright position because when the press is,

inclined as shown in Fig. 7, the weight of the lower part of the connecting rod, magnified by the weight of the slide, tends to turn the shaft in a forward direction. By bringing the eccentric to rest slightly short of upright, this tendency is counteracted by the weight of the eccentric and the strap or upper part of the connecting rod which, of

. course, tends to turn the shaft in a rearward direction. Essentially it is desirable to bring the eccentric to rest at a point where it and the parts driven by it are in a state of balance. To cause the eccentric 24 to come to rest in the position illustrated in Fig. "I it is merely necessary for the operator to remove the pulley 30, withdraw therotating throwout pin 41 so as to release the clutch sleeve 4| after which the clutch sleeve can be withdrawn and'set behind or ina clockwise direction the necessary number .of teeth to set the shaft and eccentric ahead and effect the desiredresult. After this, of course, the pulley is replaced. Such setting back of the sleeve alters the relation between the stop lug 60 and the eccentric 24 and inasmuch as the position of-the stop lug determines where the eccentric shaft and eccentric stop the adjustment of the clutch collar can be such asto stop the eccentric at any point desired.

It will therefore be seen that the provision'of the large number of inter-engaging, equally spaced and equally sized teeth in the clutch sleeve and on the eccentric shaft provides a very simple and positive way of altering the position at which the eccentric is brought to rest. When once set there is no possibility of its losing its adjustment, the invention thereby avoiding the disadvantages which are attendant upon non-fixed adjusting mechanisms. It will also be seen that the invention is not only applicable to inclinable punch presses but to any press where it is desirable to alter the relation between the stop means and the eccentric. Thus, in changing the throw of a punch press by the substitution of a new eccentric shaft, the position at which the eccentric normally comes to rest may be alenough to carry the rotating pin against the positive stop plug 60. With the present invention the sleeve can be readjusted on changing the stroke of the press to bring the eccentric to rest at the desired point. Further, changing the speed of the press and the consequent momentum of the parts may also require an alteration of the relation between the clutch sleeve and the eccentric.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides a very simple and positive adjustment for causing the eccentric or crank of a punch press to come to rest at any desired point in its travel and in which there is no danger of the adjustment failing.

I claim as my invention:

1. A clutch for punch presses or the like, comprising a rotatable driving member, a rotatable driven member, a coupling member mounted for axial movement on said driven member and compelled to rotate therewith, cooperating jaws provided on said coupling and driving members and engaged when said coupling member is moved toward said driving member, a throwout member mounted for movement toward and fromsaid coupling member, cooperating means carriedby said throwoutmember and coupling memberto move said coupling member axially away from said driving member when said throwout memher is moved toward said coupling member, and

means for adjustably moving said coupling memher to diiferent positions circumferentially about said driven member to alter the position at which the parts driven by the clutch are brought to rest.

2. A clutch for punch presses'or the like, compling member, cooperating means carried by said throwout member andcoupling member to move said coupling member axially away from said driving member when said throwout member is moved toward said coupling member, andmeans for adjustably moving said coupling member to different positions circumferentially about said driven member'to alter the position at which the parts driven by the clutch are brought to rest.

3. A clutch for punch presses, or the like, comprising a rotatable driving member, a coaxial rotatable driven shaft, a coupling sleeve mounted for axial movement on said driven shaft and com-,

pelled to turn therewith, cooperating jaws provided'on said coupling sleeve and driving member and engaging when said coupling sleeve is moved toward said driving member, a throwout member mounted on the press frame for movement prising a rotatable driving member, a coaxial rotatable driven shaft, a coupling sleeve mounted for axial movement on said driven shaft and compelled to turn therewith, cooperating jaws provided on said coupling sleeve and driving member, a spring interposed between said driven shaft and sleeve and yieldingly urging said sleeve to engage said jaws, a throwout member mounted 1 for adjustably moving said sleeve to different on the press frame for movement toward and from said coupling sleeve, cooperating means carried by said throwout member and coupling sleeve to move said coupling sleeve axially away from said driving member when said throwout member is moved toward said sleeve and-means positions circumferentially about said driven shaft to alterthe positionat which thelparts driven by the clutch are brought to rest. '5. A clutch fo'r punch presses or the like,'comprising a rotatable driving member, a coaxial rotatable driven shaft, a coupling sleeve mounted on said driven shaft, the connection between said driven shaft and'sleeve including ,a plurality of longitudinally extending teeth provided in a circumferential row around the one and at least one longitudinally extending tooth provided on the other and engaging any of said plurality of teeth whereby the sleeve can be adjustably moved to different positions circumferentially about said driven shaft, cooperating jaws provided on said coupling sleeve and driving member and engag ingwhen said, coupling sleeve is moved toward said driving member, a throwout member mounted on the press frame for movement toward and from said coupling sleeve; cooperating means carried bysaid throwoutmember and coupling sleeve to move said coupling memberraxially away from'said driving member when said throwout member is moved toward said sleeve, said plurality of teeth permitting adjustment of the sleeve on the driven shaft, to alter the position at which the parts driven by theclutch are brought to rest.

6.- A clutch for punch presses or the like, comprising a rotatable driving member, a coaxial rotatable driven shaft, having a series of equally spaced, longitudinally extending teeth of uniform size provided in a circumferential row, a coupling sleeve mounted-on said driven shaft and provided with'a plurality of equally spaced, lon-' gitudinally extending teeth of uniform size meshing with the teethon said driven shaft, the uniformity of said teeth permitting the interengagemerit of said sleeve in different positions circumferentially about said driven shaft, coopcrating jaws provided on said coupling sleeve, and driving member and engaging when said.coupling sleeve,is moved toward said driving member, a throwout member mounted on the press frame for movement towardand from said coupling sleeve, cooperating means carried by said throwout memberand coupling sleeve to move said coupling sleeve axially away from said driving member when said throwout member is moved toward said sleeve, said teeth permitting the adlustment of the sleeve on the driven shaft to alter spaced, longitudinally extending teeth of uni-.

form size provided inra circumferential row exthe position at which the parts driven by the tending'completely around the driven shaft, a

coupling sleeve mounted on said driven shaft and provided with a plurality of equally spaced, longitudinally'extending teethof uniform size extending completely around the bore of said sleeve and meshing with the teeth on said driven shaft,

the uniformity of said teeth permitting the interengagement of said sleeve in different positions circumferentially about said driven shaft, cooperating jaws provided on said coupling sleeve and driving member and engaging when said coupling sleeve is moved toward said driving member, a throwout member mounted on the press frame for movement toward and. from said coupling sleeve, cooperating means carried by said throwout member and coupling sleeve to move said coupling sleeve axially away from ,said driving member when said throwout member is moved toward said sleeve, said teeth permitting the adjustment of the sleeve on the driven-shaft to alter the position at which the parts driven by the clutch are'brought to rest. a

, 8. A clutch for punch presses or the like, comprising a rotatable driving member, a coaxial rotatable driven shaft, a coupling sleeve mounted on said driven shaft, the connection between said driven shaft and sleeve including a plurality of longitudinally extending teeth provided in a circumferential row around the one and at least one longitudinally extending tooth provided on the f other and engaging any of saidplurality of teeth 'whereby the sleeve can be adjustably moved to different positions circumferentially about said driven'shaft, said sleeve and driving member be-- ing provided with a relatively large number of integral, axially extending, relatively small, uniformlyspaced shaped face jaws adapted to interengage when said coupling, sleeve is moved toward said driving member, a throwout member mounted on the .press frame for movement toward and from said coupling sleeve, cooperating means carried by said throwout member and coupling sleeveto move said; coupling sleeve axially away from said driving member when said throwout member is moved toward said sleeve,

' said plurality of teeth permitting adjustment of the sleeve on the driven shaft to alter the 'position at which the brought to rest. r

" FREDERICK E. MUNSCHAUER.

parts driven by the clutch are 

